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2021News stories

September 27, 2021

What is it like to be a volunteer in Andros?

What is it like to be a volunteer in Andros? Kevin, who came from the United States to volunteer on Andros Routes and Clean Green Andros projects, shares the experience of his first days as a volunteer!

“After eleven days on Andros now volunteering with Andros Routes and Clean Green Andros, I have to say that I am having a wonderful time! I have already taken part in numerous tasks that both organizations engage in such as cleaning vegetation on trails, improving the footpaths, maintaining way markers, painting sign posts, and building new gates with Andros Routes and doing beach clean-ups, nurdle hunts, cleaning garbage along footpaths, tracking and recording recycling points and bulk waste around the island, and touring the main recycling centers with Clean Green Andros. I really love the variety of work I get to do! I have also met and worked with so many great and interesting people from local Andrians, Andrians who have returned to the island after living elsewhere in Greece, and foreigners who have made Andros home for decades. And they all make delicious food to share with me! In addition to the wonderful people I get to work with, I have met many people from the island who already know me from social media posts, so it is like I am a little celebrity here. Some kind soul even offered to sponsor a rental car for me so that I can more easily get to work and explore the island.

Through my work with Andros Routes and Clean Green Andros and even the movie Little England that I watched in the open-air cinema in Chora I have learned a lot about the history of the island and how these teams are working to preserve that history and beauty of Andros. My visits to the main waste collection site in Gavrio as well as my tour of the recycling center in Kypri taught me about the hard work that many people on the island are doing not only to keep Andros clean and beautiful but for the greater environment as well which is really inspiring. One of my tasks with Clean Green Andros has been to record any bulk waste I find, and I have been really impressed to find that many of the items I have recorded and taken pictures of are often gone by the next time I pass by within just a few days!

While the work is certainly enjoyable, it is definitely tiring and often times very tedious, specifically when painting the sign posts. However, it is equally rewarding when meeting hikers enjoying the freshly maintained trails or seeing locals separating their recycling into the various bins rather than throwing it in the garbage or worse on the ground. It is even more rewarding for me personally as I often use the trails maintained by Andros Routes in my free time as I run to train for my upcoming ultramarathon. It feels wonderful to give back and help to maintain something that I also enjoy so much. Recently, while I was running back towards my room in Batsi, a puppy began to follow me for nearly 5km and I was already planning how I would have to introduce him to my dog at home! Fortunately, he couldn’t keep up and eventually turned around and I saw him back in his village of Katakilos the next day. This friendly little guy made up for the more mean and aggressive dog that wouldn’t let me pass by him on a trail earlier on that day.

Kevin is a volunteer in the frame of Cyclades Green Volunteers program led by Cyclades Preservation Fund and supported by British Embassy Athens.

By Katerina

2021News stories

September 1, 2021

Menites Association lead the way and set a great example of how an event can become clean and green!

At this year’s festival of the Virgin Mary of Koumoulou, which took place on Sunday, August 22, the Menites Association led the way by using re-usable crockery and cutlery instead of disposable items. They set a great example of how an event like this can take place, for a cleaner greener Andros.

The Association served 150 portions of food on reusable crockery and cutlery. This crockery and cutlery came from their own supply, and supplemented by the dishes of the Clean Green Andros project. These items were used for the two multi-day Andros on Foot Festivals of 2018 and 2019, and most recently by the Andros Experience 2021 event.

The decision by the Menites Association not to use any disposable plastic was crucial to avoid the large volume of waste usually produced at such events, with a negative impact on the local environment and a burden on our waste management. According to the President of the Association, Mrs Despina Hatzoglou, every year, after the festival, plastic and garbage is collected from the surrounding areas and from the village terraces, after it has been scattered by the winds. Due to this initiative, very little waste was created this year.

Thanks to the reusable utensils, at least 150 sets of plastic plates, plastic forks and disposable glasses did not end up in the trash. They also recycled their beverage containers and composted all their food scraps. So the only waste that eventually ended up in the garbage were the napkins!

We are delighted that we contributed, and we hope that other groups and associations will follow the example of the Menites Association! If you would like to know more about this service, please contact us.

Sincere thanks and congratulations to the Menites Association.

By Katerina

2021News stories

June 28, 2021

Recycle clothes and shoes

New bins for recycling clothes and shoes in Andros! Don’t throw your old clothes and shoes away – someone needs them!

The Municipality of Andros Cleaning and Recycling Service, in collaboration with Freedom Hellas Karachalios Ioannis, has installed new five purple recycling bins specially for recycling of clothes and shoes.
Suitable clothes and shoes are donated to people in need – otherwise they are recycled into cleaning cloths and towels.

The new purple bins are located at the following spots:

– Chora: Two bins on the beach of Nimborio next to the Recycling Hut
– Gavrio: Next to Peristerionas in the port
– Batsi: At the back of the port
– Korthi: Next to the Cooperative at the entrance to Korthi Bay.

Find out in the map where the purple recycling bins for clothes and shoes are.

You can drop off any clean clothes and paired shoes (for men, women or children in these new bins. Please do not put dirty or wet clothes, material/cloth or unpaired shoes into these bins.
In return, the company will provide food and cleaning items to vulnerable social groups on the island through the Charitable Association of Apikia.

Let’s all support this new program to recycle clothes and shoes. We can help reduce the overall amount of waste on Andros, and also help support those in need.

By Admin

2021News stories

June 16, 2021

Andros Experience

Clean Green Andros supports Andros Experience 2021! An event with less waste!

The Andros Experience 2021 Sports Event took place between June 11th and 13th on Andros, and the team behind Clean Green Andros was there!
On Friday, June 11, the project also participated in a Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF) meeting arranged to inform people about the importance of protecting the Posidonia (the seagrass beds of the Cycladic seas). Also participating were the Mayor of Andros, representatives of Andros Port, local authorities and scientists from ELKETHE. At the meeting, we learned about the vital Posidonia, which, just like the Amazon of the Mediterranean, produces oxygen and protects the coasts from erosion. We also learnt that the Posidonia is threatened by trawling and mooring.
At the Andros Experience event on Saturday, June 12, in Gavrio, 200 portions of food were cooked and served to the athletes, volunteers, and participants. Andros Routes (sister project to Clean Green Andros) provided the reusable crockery, previously used at the two Andros on Foot Festivals.
Attending the event from Clean, Green Andros were Ulli Stahlmann and Katerina Pantazi and Annie Mitropoulou from CPF.
They promoted the initiative for a cleaner, greener Andros, leading the effort to reduce waste, use the correct bins for garbage, separate recyclables, and start composting. They also washed many dishes!
Thanks to the reusable crockery, the initiative prevented over 200 plastic plates from ending up in the trash. Finally, three recycling bags and one compost bag were collected. What was not recycled or composted – just a garbage bag! The efforts were worthwhile.

Warm thanks to Andros Experience 2021, the Municipality of Andros and the Cyclades Preservation Fund for their cooperation, the KTEL of Andros for transporting forgotten cutlery, the taxi driver George Mandarakas for transporting the banners, Dimitris Petsas for supplying the recycling bins, the restaurant Karavostasi that allowed us to use its kitchen for dishwashing, and SEDA for the transport of reusable crockery back to the store.
Stay tuned for the next actions.

By Admin